Бывшая кондитер из Кармела реализует мечту сестры и выпускает серию детских книг с плюшевыми игрушками для больниц

Ten years ago, Marsha Stephens-Taylor and her identical twin sister, Martha, were developing a series of children’s books, “The Adventures of Marsha and Martha,” based on all the places their father’s geophysics career had taken family while growing up — Paraguay, Venezuela, Brazil, Columbia, Uruguay, Chile, France, Spain, Italy, Virgin Islands, Canary Islands, Northern Africa, and Kauai — and what the twins had encountered along the way. Their vision was to take young readers along for the ride, and their mission was to ensure that every child has the opportunity to read, particularly those whose welfare is at risk. To that end, while Martha, the artist, and Marsha, the author, were developing their library of children’s books, they also founded the “Legacy of Love” book program, which carries the promise that for every book purchased, another will be gifted to a child in a hospital or shelter, plus children of “Gold Star Families,” the immediate relatives of U.S. Military Service members, who died in the line of duty. “Our intention,” said Marsha Stephens-Taylor, “was to bring comfort, courage, and imagination to children walking through some of life’s hardest moments, book by book.” It still is. Yet, while the twins were immersed in developing their library of adventure stories, Martha died suddenly. And, for a time, the project did, as well. “I cried for two straight years,” Stephens-Taylor said. “This was our story collection, our project, our mission. And suddenly, a project we had dreamed of since we were 10, lost its life.” Until Stephens-Taylor discovered a course on how powerful the mind is and how we can access our own insight to heal ourselves. “What we say to ourselves is so important,” she said. “I am still here. And so are the children’s books my twin sister and I were doing. I feel her spirit all the time. I knew she would be upset with me that I wasn’t going ahead with them. So, I’ve completed five children’s books, and I’m writing five more. With each one, I get to write about my sister, which is healing and fun.” Published this past December, “Beneath the Wolf’s Watch” comes with a plush silver wolf. “The Sacred Sea Turtle,” comes with “Honu,” a plush turtle. “Paco’s Secret Mission” is accompanied by a plush German shepherd, “The Secret of Capybara Lagoon” comes with a capybara, and “The Rescue of Ollie and Pixie” comes with an otter and a baby fawn. Gathering material Marsha Stephens-Taylor and her twin grew up alongside her parents’ peripatetic life, through which the children were introduced to multiple languages, learning just enough to socialize with local kids and go to school. The family moved to the United States when the twins were 16 years old. Their English was fluent but fraught with such a heavy accent, they worked with a linguist to soften it, so they could be understood. “I wanted to be an elementary school teacher,” she said, “and I wanted the kids—and everyone else—to be able to understand me.” A week after she met her husband, Federal Judge Mitch Taylor, on a Fresno golf course, she says, he asked her to marry him. In 2004, the couple bought a home in Carmel Woods, with something Fresno couldn’t provide: a beautiful view of the ocean. Her husband launched a law career in civil litigation, while she enrolled at Monterey College of Law to become a paralegal, so she could work with him. “Having finally decided it was time to do what I’ve really always wanted to do, in 2005,” Stephens-Taylor said, “I opened a publishing company, ‘Simba’s Publishing.’ Since my twin sister and I had wanted this since we were 10, now that I’m in my 60s, publishing these children’s books has been a long-held dream. And knowing I have five more in the hopper, this is a dream come true.” Before her children’s books hit the market, Stephens-Taylor likely was best-known for her Carmel company, “The Brittle Lady.” Established in 1979, the award-winning confectionary specialized in custom-made chocolate-covered brittles and truffles from a recipe handed down from her grandmother. “I had been making the ‘Best Brittle in the World’ for more than 25 years,” she said, “until COVID came to Carmel. That put a lot of things on hold but opened a window to my writing.” Ultimately, Stephens-Taylor’s mission, through her book series, is to work with the Children’s Miracle Network Hospital to give a book to every child, paired with a plushy of the character in the story, for them to hold as they hear the story, go through a scary procedure, slip into sleep. “I envision a world,” she said, “where every child, no matter their circumstance, can experience the joy, comfort, and inspiration of a good story. Through ‘The Adventures of Marsha and Martha’ and the ‘Legacy of Love’ book program, our dream is to build a movement of caring adults and families who believe in the power of storytelling to uplift and connect.” For more information, visit marshaandmartha.com.